Who are you, and what does FarmArt do?

My name is Chris Cafolla, and I am the Philadelphia regional sales representative at FarmArt Produce. We are a full-line produce distributor in the Philadelphia area, primarily serving restaurants. While we offer a wide range of products year-round, we adopt a "local first" mindset for many items. This means that, unlike many of our competitors, we won't ship you a Canadian hothouse heirloom tomato in July or August unless there’s no other option.

We partner with Philly Foodworks and Sunny Harvest Farms to source local items. We are also looking to expand our offerings with more seasonal local products when possible.

FarmArt provides produce from all around the world, but that wasn’t always the case. Can you tell me a little bit about how FarmArt started?

FarmArt is a vibrant, family-owned business with a longstanding tradition of providing the freshest produce to the community. Our roots run deep in local agriculture, and since 1972, the Klinghoffer family has proudly served the Philadelphia market. With over a century of combined experience in various sectors—including retail, farmers' markets, food service, and organic farming—we are dedicated to delivering high-quality products to our customers.

In 2000, the family embraced the wholesale market and evolved into the FarmArt we know today. They built strong relationships with chefs who were loyal patrons of their former retail store in Strafford, PA, paving the way for FarmArt to become a premier wholesale produce provider in Philadelphia.

Now headquartered in Folcroft, just a short distance from the city, we supply the region’s finest restaurants, cafes, caterers, and retailers with top-quality produce.

As you explained, FarmArt differs from the local farms with which Philly Foodworks collaborates. Can you share your biggest challenges with local products in your field right now?

One of the biggest challenges we face with local food is consistency. It has improved over the past few years due to key partnerships with growers. For example, a standard commodity pack of strawberries comes in an 8/1 lb clamshell pack. However, many local growers pack exclusively in an 8-qt flat, which weighs about 12 lbs in total. This inconsistency can lead to confusion for customers, as not only is the price different, but the weight is as well.

Has your relationship with Philly Foodworks impacted consistency at all?

Through our partnership with Philly Foodworks and Fifer Orchards, we have managed to have Fifer Orchards pack strawberries in an 8/1 lb clamshell pack for us. This change has resulted in greater consistency and a longer shelf life for the product once it arrives. This means we’re able to offer local strawberries to our 600-plus restaurant customers that previously wouldn’t have used local berries.

Given your diverse focus on various producer offerings, I'm curious if Philly Foodworks has helped increase your sales of local products.

Philly Foodworks purchases large quantities of strawberries, which allows us to stock them for all our restaurant customers. While many of our customers appreciate the consistency of commodity berries, we can now offer a local option at a competitive price point.

How would 20% more sales help you bring more local food into the Philadelphia region?

Philly Foodworks acts as a type of "anchor" customer for certain items, enabling us to offer those same products to our network of over 600 other customers. If they were to use us for 20% more on in season local items, it would enhance our ability to provide similar benefits across the board.

You mentioned that Philly Foodworks acts as a type of anchor for FarmArt. Can you explain how this has impacted bringing more local product on?

Through our partnership with Philly Foodworks, we are able to source Green Garlic in early spring from Eagle Road Farms. FarmArt is among the first customers to receive a call from Curt Fifer of Fifer Orchards when asparagus and strawberries are ready for harvest. This is partly due to the volume that Philly Foodworks orders, which has given us increased purchasing power and enabled us to be among the first to offer local asparagus and strawberries.

To put this into perspective, Philly Foodworks ordered nearly 6,000 pounds of Fifer Orchards’ strawberries from us in 2024, which accounted for 35% of the local strawberries we sold to all our customers. This large order allowed us to successfully provide local strawberries to our customers.

Similarly, you expressed interest in Blueberry Bill blueberries for your customers, so we established a relationship with this blueberry grower to offer their blueberries when in season. In 2024, Philly Foodworks ordered almost 2,000 pounds of Blueberry Bill’s blueberries from us, representing 10% of our total sales and making it the largest order from a single customer.

Thank you for sharing insights into how your business operates and how local produce can be distributed beyond individual homes. Businesses of all sizes and diverse mindsets can help shift our perception of the food system and how we engage with it.